[caltrop]

Perhaps if I clarify my position you'll be able to follow my argument.

Drug addicts, IMHO - based partly on my observation of a few, have destroyed their lives and, unless they want to kick the habit, their isn't anything I can do to really help them. The damage their addiction causes society is staggering and, IMHO, unaffordable.

To belabor the obvious and repeat myself let me point out that I don't favor legalization. I do favor taking any profit out of dealing in drugs.

The question of what drugs the Boards of Health need to maintain should be left up to them. My answer would be to provide - only to those who have a documented addiction - anything addicts are taking.

To further clarify my position you need to recognize that I don't care about the drug addicts. If they OD I only hope they'll do it somewhere other than the middle of the road so they don't create a traffic problem. The people I'm concerned about are those not addicted to drugs - the girl who doesn't get hooked and become a prostitute, the old lady who can walk down the street without fearing someone will kill her for her wedding ring's street value and all the rest of us.

[tpaine]

Well said.
The drug warriors don't really care about curing the problem or ending the 'war' however.

The war is their agenda.

They hope to create a new socialist society based upon the ruins of our constitution.

[jeremiah]

The girl that becomes a prostitute to support a drug habit, either needs to make large cash to afford the drugs, or is one of those that could care less about her life and body anyway. In the first case, she would not need to become a streetwalker, in the second she would have anyway. Nothing is prevented, but with the WOD, one is more likely to regress down the food chain. An old lady is more likely to be accosted now, than in the past. Much of that change is due to the rise of gangs(who fuel an unproductive lifestyle by making large quantities of cash, at little effort) the WOD is directly responsible for. Take the 15-45 yo male out of the drug business, and watch crime rates plummet, out of wedlock births among the poorest drop too. In other words, a more civil society. Then of course, all the money spent chasing users and dealers, could be used to catch thieves, rapists and murderers. Maybe even allow police to begin walking beats again, which was abandoned because of fear of assasinations.